My Day at the Hospital

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by docicu3

DVT or Deep Venous Thrombosis of a leg is treated with anticoagulants when:

1) It occurs above the knee because of the chance of the clot embolizing (breaking off) and causing a pulmonary embolus which is a much more serious problem

2) You have a history of previous clots and have evidence of a clot on doppler
In truth without the previous study to compare it to there is no way of knowing whether this clot has changed at all

In your case if this truly is a second clot in this location you should be anticoagulated for life. In addition you should have a workup for hypercoagulable state to see if there is another reason why you are clotting. There are newer approaches to the clot where vascular surgeons are trying to remove the clot and shorten the period of anticoagulation. GL with this...

I fall under scenario 2. The position this doctor seemed to be taking until they did their own doppler was that I was young and fit and therefore shouldn't be at risk despite having a previous history of 3 dvts developing after my surgery. After doing thier own tests he was singing a very different tune though.

The odd thing is, 3 months ago I got a new doctor and they ordered full blood work when I told them of my history and nothing showed up. I did just fly, but I exercise like a maniac so you would think my circulation would be good although I do have slight varicose..

Thanks for the well wishes! First thing I'm going to do is find a good doctor for this sort of issue and hope my HMO pays for it.